Centered around a short story entitled “The Queen Of Crows,” this unique product was designed by author and game designer Monica Valentinelli. At a retail price of $4.99, readers will receive a magazine-style layout of THE QUEEN OF CROWS, a professional illustration of Mahochepi and more!

This product is the first digital release set in the world of the Violet War and is also the first fiction product published through Flames Rising Press. The short story, which is entitled “The Queen of Crows,” takes place during the 1860s and focuses on the tough decisions that a Navajo elder named “Tse” must make to save his people. Will he summon Mahochepi, the Queen of Crows, without knowing who–or what–she is? Read the story and find out!

Here’s what readers can expect to receive when they purchase THE QUEEN OF CROWS:

To keep up-to-date with news about this product set in the Violet War, be sure to visit VioletWar.com.

What are you waiting for? THE QUEEN OF CROWS is available at DriveThruHorror.com now!

About the Contributors

MONICA VALENTINELLI is a professional author and game designer. Described as a “force of nature” by her peers, Monica is best known for her work in the horror, dark fantasy and dark science fiction genres and has been published through Abstract Nova Press, Eden Studios, White Wolf Publishing, Apex Magazine and others. Her credits include: a short story titled “Pie” in the award-winning Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas anthology through 12 to Midnight, an original flash fiction piece entitled “Prey,” which placed an honorable mention in a Mirrormask writing competition and “Twin Designs,” a science fiction novella for the Tales of the Seven Dogs Society collection through Abstract Nova Press.

LEANNE BUCKLEY is a professional illustrator with over ten years of experience under her belt and has worked for both the comics and gaming industries. Her clients have included: Image Comics, Mattel, White Wolf, Paizo, Wizards of the Coast and several others. In addition to her freelance illustrations, she was a Senior Artist for four years at Humanhead Studios, a video game design studio. Her work includes: Put the Book Back on the Shelf: A Belle and Sebastian Anthology through Image Comics, Cthulhutech through Catalyst Game Labs, the Exalted line for White Wolf Publishing, and layout as well as concept work for Mattel. For more information about Leanne and her contact information, visit http://leannebuckley.com/.

SHARI HILL is a professional editor, layout artist and writer with over 15 years of experience in non-fiction, gaming, and academic publishing and communications. She is currently a communications coordinator at a private university. As a freelance editor, she contributed to the All Flesh Must Be Eaten line by Eden Studios, and her credits include the Worlds of the Dead setting collection, the Book of Archetypes series and the Eden Studios Presents series. The Queen of Crows features her first credit as a cover artist.

Download your copy of THE QUEEN OF CROWS today at DriveThruHorror.com.

Dear FlamesRising.com Readers,

Phew! It is really hard to believe that another year has gone by so quickly. First and foremost, thank you for your comments and your continued support. Your feedback has helped us tremendously, because that was the driving force behind launching a more reader-friendly design in February of 2009.

This year we also focused on ensuring that we had more features for you to interact with and read as well. The horror plot generator was a big hit, and even though we launched it late this year, it continues to be very popular among many of you. Right in time for GenCon 2009, we provided you with a contest, courtesy of the friendly folks at GenCon: Indy. One of the other popular features we added was our Previews category, where we supply game, fiction and comic previews of published (or soon-to-be published) works. The Previews feature is something that we can’t do alone because each and every preview on the site is supplied, with permission, from the publisher and/or the author.

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular topics and a few of my fiction review picks from this past year:

• DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: Players Handbook 2 a look at the Shaman – Editor-in-Chief Matt M McElroy offered you a sneak preview at the Shaman class as part of a blog tour.
• THE GHOST KING by R.A. Salvatore review – Year after year, tie-in authors are a favorite among many of our readers. This review by R.A. Salvatore was a big hit and incurred several comments.
• Quotes from Neil Gaiman on CORALINE – In what probably qualifies as the shortest interview ever, Neil was kind enough to answer our questions three about the animated movie CORALINE.

Fiction reviews always do well here on FlamesRising.com, and I got the chance to review several books. I’d like to share with you some of the reviews that I had written, as well as my commentary on them.

• THE MAGICIANS review – Written by Lev Grossman, this book is one of my top picks for 2009.
• DEATH’S DAUGHTER review – Written by Amber Benson (GHOSTS OF ALBION), this review highlighted a urban fantasy “comedy.”
• DRACULA: the UNDEAD review – Billed as a sequel to Bram Stoker’s DRACULA, this review was one of the hardest I’ve ever had to write.
• FIRST LORD’S FURY review – My review of the conclusion to Jim Butcher’s fantasy novels brings a close to this militaristic tale against a terrible foe called the “Vord.”
• FINCH review – FINCH, a story set in the Ambergris Cycle by Jeff VanderMeer, competes with THE MAGICIANS for my best book of 2009.
• HIS FATHER’S SON review – In the world of modern horror, I not only reviewed, but recommended this book by Bentley Little to several people.

For 2009, we also highlighted a number of dark fantasy and horror games, and even offered you with a free Storytelling Adventure System One Scene for Halloween. Dubbed THE DEVIL’S NIGHT, this free one-scene was offered to you in conjunction with our friends over at White Wolf Publishing.

Another game-related topic in particular that stands out is LITTLE FEARS: NIGHTMARE EDITION. Game designer Jason Blair offered us an exclusive preview to the game through his LITTLE FEARS: 13 Doors Preview series.

In addition, we reviewed several board games, RPGs, movies, comics and more! We had a lot of fun talking about horror, so here are some of your favorite posts about other games, movies and comics we wrote about.

• Eclipse Phase Review – Catalyst Game Labs released a new RPG under the Creative Commons license this year.
• A Deal with the Dead – We were one of the lucky sites that had an early copy of Geist: the Sin-Eaters
• Little Nighmares – Cardstock Scenes – Bill Bodden started his series of miniatures reviews this year and has more on the way.
• Ready Made World of Darkness – White Wolf released several collections of pre-made characters for the World of Darkness.
• Drag Me to Hell Review – Jason jumped at the chance to review Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell movie.
• The Prophet Review – The Prophet was one of the coolest indie comics we reviewed this year.

We are very excited about this year, because we have a lot more in store for you. We hope that you continue to enjoy FlamesRising.com. Cheers to a a terrifying 2010! (In a good way, of course.)

To learn how you can feed the Flames, feel free to Contact Us. We’re also @flamesrising on Twitter, too.

From all of us here at FlamesRising.com, thank you for reading!

- M

Super Genius Games (SGG) is proud to announce the addition of a new Genius to the team! Starting immediately Owen K.C. Stephens will be the Pathfinder RPG Development Manager for SGG. Owen’s role-playing contributions are legion, having contributed to the 3rd and 4th editions of Dungeons & Dragons, d20 Modern, The Black Company, EverQuest, Song of Ice and Fire, and Wheel of Time role-playing games, as well as the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign setting. Owen is also author of the Advanced Gamemaster’s Guide from Green Ronin, the Guide to Absalom released by Paizo Publishing, and was co-author of Star Wars Saga Edition from Wizards of the Coast.

“We’re proud to have a proven professional like Owen join the team,” said Stan!, Creative Director of SGG. “Owen has been part of the OGL movement from the beginning and he not only writes great content, he also has a good head for rules and for what makes the game exciting. He’s a real triple threat.”

SGG is committed to providing fun, engaging, and useful content for the Pathfinder RPG. Over the next few weeks Owen will work his Oklahoman magic and soon Pathfinder fans can expect amazing content from Super Genius Games each week.

“I am pleased to finally be acknowledged as a Genius, a moment I have long known would eventually arrive,” said Owen about his new position. “On a serious note, I’m really pleased to be part of what I see as a very strong team, and I’m really excited about the projects we have coming down the pike.”

About Super Genius Games
Super Genius Games is an imprint of OtherWorld Creations. Founded in Fall 2007, SGG is dedicated to publishing quality print and PDF products for a wide range of games and game systems. Look for Super Genius Games products at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

Co-founders Hyrum Savage and Stan! between them have more than 24 years experience working professionally in the hobby games industry. They have done projects with and created products for Wizards of the Coast, Upper Deck Entertainment, TSR Inc., Paizo Publishing, Malhavoc Press, West End Games, Steve Jackson Games, The Game Mechanics, and many other industry-leading companies. Their work has been nominated for 10 major game industry awards.

Halloween is our favorite holiday here at Flames Rising headquarters. We wound up with an orange and a black cat, our house is often decorated in September, and we enjoy coming up with new concoctions year after year. Although we really enjoy the holiday, it wouldn’t be as much fun without all of you.

Last year Flames Rising celebrated Halloween with you by offering 31 days of Monster Madness. For this year, we started with the horror plot generator to help you get those creative juices flowing. Since we offered flash fiction (in the form of mini-monsters) last year, we decided to take a more gaming-related approach for Halloween.

Over the years, FlamesRising.com has written several reviews (Ancient Mysteries, Armory Reloaded) and conducted many interviews (Jess Hartley, Chuck Wendig) with White Wolf. We’ve gotten to know the folks over at White Wolf and have shared a beer or two at various conventions. So, when were thinking about ideas for Halloween, White Wolf kept coming up in the conversation.

After pitching the idea to Eddy Webb and Kelley Barnes-Herman, we were delighted that they were enthusiastic about offering this free Storyteller Adventure System (SAS) One-Scene with all of you.

The idea behind DEVIL’S NIGHT was something Matt (your Flames Rising Editor-in-Chief) and I have often discussed. In the new World of Darkness (nWoD), Storytellers can have a game just focused on mortals trying to survive in a world filled with monsters. In my writing and in my gaming, the word “monster” is a relative term. The antagonist in any story or chronicle doesn’t have to be pure evil; they could be misguided, lost or — in this case — confused. When Matt and I were discussing ideas for our pitch, we also knew we wanted to include fire as a theme. Which is why things might get pretty hot for your characters during DEVIL’S NIGHT.

DEVIL’S NIGHT is about a pyrokinetic named Gabriella St. Bruno who has lost control over her abilities. When I was developing her character, I wanted to give her a lot of flexibility. Storytellers can either depict her as a victim or as a villain; gamers can either eliminate her, try to save her or investigate why she lost her powers.

One of the things that Eddy and I had discussed was to ensure that Gabriella wasn’t the typical “I light things on fire” trope that has been done, done and re-done. To get around that, I thought about what might motivate Gabriella’s character and what she might have lost. To me, pyrokinesis would be a dangerous ability that would also have an effect (or a cost) on a character. In this case, Gabriella finds solace in religion as a way of dealing with her pain. To her, she’s not sure if her ability is a gift or a curse. Her insecurity makes her a very dangerous character on Devil’s Night, because her fires might also inspire other deadly acts of mischief around the city. The question is: What will you do to put out the fires?

If you end up meeting Gabriella in your game, I’d like to encourage you to talk about it on the White Wolf forums or leave your comments here at FlamesRising.com.

We would like to extend our deepest thanks to White Wolf for partnering up with us to offer you this freebie. We hope that you enjoy your free SAS one-scene this Halloween, and wish your characters the best of luck as they battle the flames.

On Saturday, October 17th, FlamesRising.com was on hand to celebrate the launch of LITTLE FEARS during Madison Games Day 2. We had a great turn out and several people were on hand to play games, eat pizza and take lots of pictures. There are quite a few pictures and recaps floating around; you can see a number of photos through the Madison Games Day Yahoo! Group taken by Kay Preston from Team Preston Illustrations. We’ll also be on the lookout to add more photos to our Flamesrising.com Fan Page on Facebook, too.

To celebrate the birthday of LITTLE FEARS: NIGHTMARE EDITION, there were two really awesome cakes on hand. This first picture is of LITTLE FEARS game designer Jason L Blair, who posed above a Cthulhu cake created by Mad City Cakes. (Yes, the cake really did bleed when we cut it and yes, those are hand-crafted stones, books and tentacles on the cake.)

This second cake was brought in by Jason’s lovely wife. The cake decorator mimicked the font on the LITTLE FEARS cover and added some additional touches to give it a Halloween feel.

Congratulations to Jason on the release of his new game. The party was sweet! (Literally.) If you’re interested in getting involved in the next Madison Games Day, be sure to sign up for the Madison Games Day Yahoo! Group where you can find more great pictures and interact with other people local to Madison.

Hope everyone has a fun Halloween! Ours has already started!

Just in time for Halloween, we have come up with a special treat for all you horror authors and storytellers out there. We’ve put our heads together and came up with a random horror plot generator for you to have fun with.

What does it do? Randomizes horror plots, silly! Right now, we have well over 1,000 words and phrases that we’ve put into our bubbling cauldron to come up with some interesting horror plot ideas. Check out a sample:

A centaur with the power to control the weather, whose home base is in an emergency room at a city hospital, wants to capture all the women in the world. Supported by warty toads, the centaur appears to have one weakness – a deep-seated fear of the dark. Interestingly enough, the centaur is an alien from outer space.–FlamesRising.com Horror Plot Generator

To get in on the fun, all you have to do is visit our Horror Plot Generator page to read about a random story or scene idea. Because this generator is completely random, you might find an idea that jump starts your creativity for a dark science fiction story or a paranormal romance novel!

We hope you enjoy our treat to you, and we ask that you keep your eyes peeled for more Halloween fun!

Hello, horror fans. As the ghost of Halloween past, I feel it is my duty to remind you that the past is sometimes more enticing than the present.

This time last year, FlamesRising.com offered you a series of treats that came in a variety of flavors.

Throughout October, several horror authors and game designers lent a hand (and even a finger or two) to record their tales describing a broad range of monsters — including ghosts not unlike myself.

The idea behind the Halloween Monster Madness collection, was not only to provide you with a dark glimpse into the strange and bizarre minds of these writers, but also to get you in the mood to celebrate a monstrously good Halloween.

To help jog your spotty memories, I’m offering you a second chance to take a trip back through the gossamer cobwebs, to last year’s Halloween celebration. Give these fine stories a read, won’t you?

Halloween Horror Flash Fiction Series

Reflections by Jess Hartley
The Deep-Seated Bogey by Will Hindmarch
The Meh-Teh by Jason L Blair
The Hollow Wee’ Un by Matt Forbeck
The Fogcrawler by Jason Thorson
The Scarecrow by Bill Bodden
Bykovsky’s Letter by Malcolm Craig
Skulkers-in-the-Piles by David Hill
The Killer by Chuck Wendig
The Lost Girl by Matt M McElroy
The Room by John Wick
Corpse Bug by John D. Kennedy
The Kragethogil and the Reapers by Monte Cook
Red Head by Filamena Young
Cheap Labor by Jared A. Sorensen
Quisivore by Eddy Webb
Quinkana Prodigius by Scott Lette
Hounds of the Morrigan by Alana Abbott
Glaring Hunter by Jeff LaSala
Biting Water by Preston DuBose
Babylonian Mummy by Monica Valentinelli
The House Spider by Richard Dansky
Tabbinius Cats by Eloy LaSanta
The Werewolf of Bedburg by Jason L Blair
Wastelands Stalker by Jensen Toperzer
Heamogoblin by Gregor Hutton
Tear-Drop Rattler by Joe Rixman
Jimmy Sparks by Todd Cash
Massapoag by Jason Morningstar
Falling for Her by Jess Hartley
Cob’s Ladder by E. E. Knight

Are you looking over your shoulder yet? If not, I’d like to share with you a new monster in honor of last year’s collection. This yeti comes to us from an artist named Jason Moody, who’s colorful work can be seen in the horror comic SCARLET VERONICA.

In addition to the Halloween Monster Madness collection, the folks at FlamesRising.com slaved over poorly-lit candles to bring you news, articles, reviews and other interesting goodies. After talking to the ghost of Halloween present, I happen to know that they’ll be providing more tricks and treats for you this year. From costume articles to free horror movies and a few, “fun” surprises, be sure to keep your eyes peeled and your flashlight ready. While Halloween 2008 was definitely one to remember, it appears that this year’s holiday may be even better.

I’m afraid that’s all the time I have. For whatever reason, this definitely seems to be my busiest time of year. After all, there’s a lot of people out there who haven’t even carved their pumpkins yet. I guess it’s time to give them a push in the right direction.

Scare thee well, horror fans. Scare thee well.

Photo Courtesy of ThadZ on Stock.xchng.

Happy New Year to the Horror and Dark Fantasy fans of Flames Rising!

We had a great 2008 that included:

Winning a Silver ENnie at GenCon.
October’s monstrous Halloween Horror series.
A collection of fantastic Design Essays from several creators.
The launch of the Reviewer Rewards Program.
Tons of Reviews, Interviews and a whole lot more!

Thanks to everyone who made 2008 an awesome year at Flames Rising!

We have lots of great content on the way including more reviews, interviews, some new fiction and even a few contests. Stay tuned for featured columns by some of our favorite authors and some special guests in the next few months.

One question I’d like to ask our readers is:

What do you want to see at Flames Rising in 2009?

Get your jack o’ lanterns ready and turn out your lights, Flames Rising has reached into the haunted minds of some very creative folk with monstrous results.

We’re going to scare you, thrill you and chill you with a daily monster dose that ranges from E.E. Knight’s Cob’s Ladder to Todd Cash’s Jimmy Sparks. Some of the horror writers also breathed life into dead stereotypes like Jason Blair’s Werewolf of Bedburg and Monica Valentinelli’s Babylonian Mummy.

Not only do we have monsters to scare you, artists like Jeff Preston and Brad McDevitt have lent their talents as well.

For over four years we’ve been asking our fans and our readers “What are you afraid of?” Find out in October with Flames Rising’s monster month of Halloween horror!

Show your true black-and-red colors by picking something up from our Flames Rising Cafepress shop.

We’ve updated our merchandise to reflect the new Flames Rising logo; check out our new women’s and men’s t-shirts, environmentally-friendly canvas bags for only $13.99 and more!

Remember, Halloween is rapidly approaching — what better way to say “I love horror” than to pick up a pack of mini-buttons today?

http://www.cafepress.com/flamesrising

If you’ve checked out our submission guidelines, you may have noticed that we mentioned our Flames Rising Reviewer Rewards program. As our site continues to grow, our reviewers and content providers are a vital part of Flames Rising. We’d like to light a match and shed some light on what this program actually entails.

Flames Rising Reviewer Rewards Program

Once our reviewers show a commitment to the site by submitting a minimum of (5) reviews, we will then provide the review material for them. From indie films to pre-released copies of fiction novels and new games, we receive tons of review material we’re more than happy to provide free-of-charge to our reviewers. (We’ll even cover the postage.) What’s more, our reviewers can keep the material as a “thank you” for spending the time to contribute to the site.

In addition to swag, we actively look for ways to promote our reviewers’ hard work. We’re testing a full biography page that features our reviewers’ contributions and other work. Additionally, we’ve just finished testing on contributor accounts to the site to facilitate content management and scheduling.

Want to be a Reviewer for Flames Rising?

If you’d like to start submitting your horror reviews of dark fantasy, science fiction, mythos and other genre-related themes, we encourage you to use our Contact Flames Rising page. All content on the site is coded in HTML, so remember to cut and paste your links accordingly.

Remember, we offer full rights to the reviews you write. Additionally, we provide recommendations to help you continue your writing career. Many of our reviewers have gone on to publish other work, utilizing Flames Rising as a reputable reference.

Get in on the action today! Join Flames Rising community of contributors and reap the benefits!

Over the past five years, we at Flames Rising have fed our fires, bringing you news, reviews and interviews for the horror, dark fantasy and dark sci fi genres. We started with gaming and (as our flames got bigger) we quickly expanded into music, TV/film, comics and books.

As our content shifted, so did our technology. This past January, we re-launched the site with a more contemporary look and feel, to provide a user-friendly platform for our content based on your feedback. The response to our redesign has been overwhelmingly positive and this past Friday, we were floored to learn we took second place for best fan product in the ENnies, a gaming industry award.

Flames Rising would like to thank our fans, reviewers and the gaming community for its continued support. We are so grateful for the contributions and feedback from all horror creators and fans–from indie press game designers to larger publishers–for your generosity and your enthusiasm for the site. Without any of you, Flames Rising would not be possible.

After almost five years of chills and screams, with your help we’re able to take the next steps to continuing enhancing our content and our coverage.

Thank you for spreading our flames.

The Gen Con EN World RPG Awards (the “ENnies”) are an annual fan-based celebration of excellence in tabletop roleplaying gaming. The ENnies give game designers, writers and artists the recognition they deserve. It is a peoples’ choice award, and the final winners are voted upon by the gaming public at EN World.

This year’s ENnies are listed here: www.enworld.org

Flames Rising is happy to accept the Silver ENnie for the Best Fan Product category.

As you know, Flames Rising burned the midnight oil to ensure that the site redesign was more user-friendly for you. We’ve been proud to feature several options of Flames Rising RSS feeds to work with your preferences.

After dozens of requests, Flames Rising is happy to announce that we are now recommending an easy way to put Flames Rising’s content right on your website or blog that we’ve tried ourselves.

Dubbed the “RSS Reader Widget,” this widget is fully customizable to ensure it fits your site’s theme. For an example of how the widget might work for you, take a look at Flames Rising’s Project Manager Monica Valentinelli and how she chose to implement it on www.mlvwrites.com.

If you have any technical difficulties installing this widget on your site, or have other questions that you’re dying to ask, please feel free to contact Flames Rising. We promise we’ll get back to you as quick as we can.

How to Customize RSS Reader Widget

First, you’ll want to go to SpringWidget’s Preview of the RSS Reader Widget. Are you there? If you are, you should see a header that reads “RSS Reader Widget.”

Next, you’ll want to take a look at the left hand nav bar. Let’s run through the options.

Installing the RSS Reader Widget on Your Site or Blog

Now that you’ve gone through all the trouble of customizing your widget, you’ll want to click on the button that says “Click Here to Get the Code!” You’ll notice that when you do, you get a little screen that says “Share this Widget” with a list of icons. Plenty of options! Whether you choose HTML or the WordPress feature like Monica did, once you get the code you’ll need to paste it into the appropriate place on your CMS. For blogs, you’ll want to create a new spot on your sidebar (for example, add a new text box to your sidebar and then copy/paste the code). Now you’re ready to feed the fire!

If you have a different idea or suggestion for syndicating the Flames Rising horror fanzine, feel free to post a comment. Your dark and gloomy thoughts are always appreciated.

We now have a Preview Page on Flames Rising. A spot to check out all of the sneak peeks and product previews we have been posting on the site. The latest addition is an early look at the new Hot War RPG coming up from Contested Ground Studios:

Hot War Preview

Coming up in the next few weeks will be a bit more Hunter: the Vigil and some advance looks at the Exquisite Replicas RPG from Abstract Nova.

There are a couple of other publishers I’m talking about posting some exclusive material as well. If you are interested in having your game or book previewed on Flames Rising let me know.

The new Review Guidelines have been posted on the Flames Rising website. We are currently seeking a few good reviewers to help us expand our collection of horror and dark fantasy reviews. RPGs, fiction, movies, video games and more are all welcome on the site…

What do you get out of it?

Beyond helping out fellow Flames Rising readers by letting them know what you think of these products, we’re giving away some pretty cool stuff. Regular Reviewers can earn free products to review, which is their to keep after the review is submitted to the site.

Be sure to check out John Walsh’s “How to Write Reviews of Role Playing Games Books” and Monica Valentinelli’s “On Reviewing Fiction” Essays for some helpful advice on writing Reviews for the Flames Rising website.

Use the Contact Page to submit reviews or let us know if you have any questions.

Lots of updates to the Flames Rising Amazon Store today. Horror & Dark Fantasy fiction, games, movies and more. Included in these updates is the option to pre-order:

Ventrue: Lords Over the Damned (Vampire the Requiem)
Battlestar Galactica (Season 3)
Small Favor (Dresden Files)
Purge the Unclean (Dark Heresy)

Over at FlamesRising.RPGNow.com you can check out a ton of new eBooks like Thousand Suns from Rogue Games and Daemornia RPG: 2nd Edition from Better Mousetrap Games.